Prescriptions for opioids have fallen by almost 15% in the US since 2013. Maryland was already slightly below average for prescriptions per capita, so its opioid prescriptions fell by a slightly lower amount, 13.3%, according to the Maryland State Medical Society ("MedChi").

This is obviously some welcome news, in what sometimes feels like a sea of bad news around the opioid epidemic. With fewer prescriptions, there ought to be a corresponding decrease in the number of people who are becoming newly addicted to pain pills.

While MedChi celebrates Maryland's lower than average prescription per capita number, the rate of decline in Maryland is lagging other neighboring states.